{"505531":{"#nid":"505531","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Review Finds UJC Process Fair, Recommends Lifting Sanctions on Fraternity","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFollowing an independent review of Phi Delta Theta\u0027s suspension, President G.P. \u0022Bud\u0022 Peterson has announced that he will vacate the sanctions imposed last fall.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe action follows the recommendations of the Honorable Leah Ward Sears, retired chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, who was appointed by Peterson in January to conduct the review stemming from the Undergraduate Judiciary Cabinet (UJC) recommendations based on two separate incidents, the first on July 2, 2015, and the second on August 11, 2015, in which Georgia Tech students alleged they had been victims of racial epithets and discriminatory conduct. The fraternity was sanctioned with suspension held in abeyance for one year by the UJC.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHistorically, the final appeal on sanctions for suspension held in abeyance has resided with the vice president and dean of students. In January, Peterson granted an \u0022extraordinary appeal\u0022 to the fraternity \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/2015\/10\/27\/panel-review-student-judicial-process\u0022\u003Efollowing an extensive review of Tech\u2019s investigative and hearing processes\u003C\/a\u003E for students in which several issues were identified.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/c.gatech.edu\/sears-report\u0022\u003E30-page report\u003C\/a\u003E, Sears concurred with the findings of the UJC, which presided at the initial hearing. She agreed there was sufficient evidence for the UJC to support its conclusions, and she also refuted claims that the fraternity was not granted sufficient due process and that the hearing was unfairly biased.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There is no indication that the Fraternity was prevented from putting forth a full and complete defense at the hearing itself or that the deliberations by the UJC panel were tainted in any way,\u0022 she wrote.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the Student Code of Conduct, sanctioning an entire organization is only permitted when that organization\u2019s leadership is complicit in a conduct violation. In its summary, the UJC found the fraternity responsible in both instances, but did not find Phi Delta Theta\u0027s leadership to be complicit. The inconsistency between the UJC\u0027s finding and its recommendation for suspension served as the basis for Sears\u0027 recommendation to remove the sanctions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERegarding the investigative process, Sears disagreed with the fraternity\u2019s allegations of insufficient evidence, citing the differences between standards in higher education conduct hearings and criminal court proceedings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This case boils down to the conflicting testimony of Complainant and of those associated with the Fraternity,\u201d she wrote. \u0022The [UJC] was faced with two conflicting accounts of what happened, and determined the Complainant\u2019s account to be the more credible one \u2026 we see no basis on review to disturb \u2014 or even cast doubt upon \u2014 the finding of the student panel.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Outside review supports Tech\u0027s student judiciary process and its original findings"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe action follows the recommendations of the Honorable Leah Ward Sears, retired chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, who was appointed by Peterson in January to conduct the review stemming from the Undergraduate Judiciary Cabinet (UJC) recommendations based on two separate incidents.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Outside review supports Tech\u0027s student judiciary process and its original findings"}],"uid":"27299","created_gmt":"2016-02-24 10:20:29","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:53","author":"Michael Hagearty","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-02-24T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-02-24T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"505451":{"id":"505451","type":"image","title":"Phi Delta Theta","body":null,"created":"1456760341","gmt_created":"2016-02-29 15:39:01","changed":"1475895265","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:25","alt":"Phi Delta Theta","file":{"fid":"204826","name":"pdt.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pdt_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/pdt_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":31217,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/pdt_0.png?itok=6VeMeCJG"}}},"media_ids":["505451"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/c.gatech.edu\/sears-report","title":"Full report: Appeal of Phi Delta Theta of Suspension Held in Abeyance (Warning: this report contains offensive language related to the case)"},{"url":"http:\/\/c.gatech.edu\/sears-summary","title":"Summary: Report and Recommendations"},{"url":"http:\/\/c.gatech.edu\/pdt-decision","title":"President Peterson\u0027s Letter to Phi Delta Theta"},{"url":"http:\/\/c.gatech.edu\/pdt-chrono","title":"Chronology of Student Judicial Process for Phi Delta Theta at Georgia Tech"}],"groups":[{"id":"1182","name":"General"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}